Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the leading causes of vision impairment and blindness in people aged 20–70 years [4]. The risk of developing blindness in patients with diabetes is 2.5 times higher than in people without diabetes[1]. With DM, the risk of developing cataracts and glaucoma increases, but the greatest threat to vision is damage to the retina, which is observed in 80% of patients with a disease lasting for more than 10 years. Diabetic retinopathy is diagnosed in 50–90% of patients with diabetes mellitus; it is characterized by a severe progressive course and can lead to blindness[2, 5]. In approximately 5% of cases, signs of retinopathy are detected before the diagnosis of DM, and 10 years after the onset of the disease, pathological changes of the fundus are noted in 40–50% of patients. With a 20-year duration of diabetes, the manifestations of diabetic retinopathy are found in 90% of patients. It is proved that early detection of vision impairment due to diabetes mellitus and treatment of this complication prevents blindness in 90% of patients with diabetic retinopathy [3].

Considering the above, the goal of our study was to establish the morphological changes of retinal ganglion neurons in streptozotocin-induced diabetes under conditions of chronic stress.